Obama talks about the audacity of Hope. He might want to start thinking about the audacity of Karl Rove. The current attack ad by McCain saying that Obama supports sex education for kindergarten kids is the latest in GOP tactical smear. Neither Obama or the left should be surprised by these smears.

This current attack reminds me of a frightening scene in Cormac McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian” where “The Judge” tells a group of church goers that the priest preaching to them is a wanted man… wanted for pedophilia, among other heinous crimes.

The religious crowd turns into a mob. The priest’s protests and claims of innocence do him no good, and he’s catered off by the mob to whatever horrible fate awaits him. When a man asks “The Judge” where he knew the priest from, “The Judge” confesses that he’d never seen the man before in his life, and had no idea who he was

How can we fight the likes of “The Judge” and the likes of Karl Rove? It’s difficult, because when “The Judge” points his finger at you and says you are a child molester, the mob will turn on you, even if they know the claim is untrue, less “The Judge” (Rove) decides to point his finger at them next. Better you than them.

Obama has begun to insert the name Rove into some of his statements now in an attempt to expose the lies. But it is not enough. Constantly being on the defensive against “The Judge” and the mob will not do Obama any good. “The Judge” could not be defeated because he was not really a human being. But Rove is, and so is John McCain. They can be defeated, if you hit them first, and fight fire with fire.

John McCain has hired the same man to run his campaign that tried to destroy him and his family in 2000. (and he did). If McCain had any integrity he has completely abandoned it in the pursuit of power.

Obama has to hit back, and hit back hard. When John Kerry was smeared by the Swiftboaters, his reaction was to not hit back. Why? Because the accusation that he lied about his military service was outrageous. No sensible voter would believe such crap. But voters judge a candidate, not only on how he takes a punch, but how he counter attacks. They wonder if he’s capable of throwing a punch himself, even a sucker punch. If there is no attack, then a voter wonders if the candidate has any fight in them.

John McCain and Karl Rove, just like “The Judge” did to the priest in “Blood Meridian” has called Barack Obama a pedophile. As outrageous as the accusation is, it’s Obama that will have to answer for it, just like John Kerry did in ’04, and all because they couldn’t believe their opponent had the audacity to say such blatant lies.

But Democrats should get over the notion now that the truth matters to the GOP. All that matters to the GOP is selling a product long enough to get to mid-October before the truth seeps in, to take advantage of early voting. All Obama can do is point this out, focus on the issues and tell the media what is really going on here, and then rely on his later voters and GOTV to offset what the GOP is doing here